


Two Weeks Alone

by LavenderandLouisa



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2020-12-27 22:42:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderandLouisa/pseuds/LavenderandLouisa
Summary: Brienne and Jaime are coworkers at a law firm.  Brienne decides to take some well-deserved and much-needed vacation time.





	1. Reminiscing

Brienne Tarth sat in her car in the spot furthest from the entrance to Hot Pie’s Café, watching the rain pour down in buckets. This is what she got for going at 9:45, instead of grabbing coffee at 7:30 on her way to the office. A crowd. The morning rush. No spots. It never used to be this crowded. Not when Hot Pie’s first opened, not before… not before Jaime left. 9:45 had been their usual time, but when he left, it was easier to go on her drive in. This was her first time there at 9:45 in six months. If only it were before…

_Brienne started at Stark & Associates, LLC three years before. She had moved to Winterfell from Tarth for a two-year fellowship at a legal aid organization there after finishing at the top of her law school class. When Brienne had been given the opportunity to extend her fellowship for a third year, she did, but as that year drew to a close, she still had no idea of what to do permanently. Nowhere she had interviewed intrigued her. She had high-paying offers from all sorts of firms across Westeros, but she didn’t want to be stuck at a desk doing insurance defense 80 hours a week or selling her soul to the corporate world for the rest of her life. Luckily for her, in that third year, she became fast friends with a new volunteer at the organization – Sansa Stark. Sansa was finishing up university and hoped to follow in her mother’s footsteps, applying to law school that semester. Her mother, Catelyn Stark (the “Stark” of Stark & Associates), was a local lawyer, fighting for the rights of the poor and underprivileged. When Sansa mentioned that her mother was looking for a new associate and that Brienne might like the work, she agreed to go to an interview. Brienne immediately fell in love with Catelyn, her work, and her vision to help the underprivileged. She jumped at the job, even after Sansa warned her that the arrogant asshole, Jaime Lannister, worked there and was bound to make partner soon; Sansa even hinted that he may have been the reason the two new associates and all of the other staff members had quit._

_Brienne walked into the firm on her first day, dressed in her nicest suit and…_

_“Oh, you’re a woman?” commented a man with an exasperated glare as he peeked his head out of the office next to what she knew was to be her office. “I thought your name was Brian.”_

_Brienne hadn’t been that insulted in years. True, she was tall and muscular, not dainty and beautiful like Sansa, but after years of insecurities about how she looked, she had finally learned to love herself and take pride in revealing her less-than-obvious femininity… in front of people, most of the time (how she felt about herself in the privacy of her own apartment was a different thing entirely). But with two phrases from the gorgeous, blonde, model-like man in the office next to hers, she felt reduced to nothing once again. If this was Jaime Lannister, she could see why Sansa didn’t like him._

_Brienne didn’t dignify his comment with a response as she proceeded past him to her office. _

_“Let’s hope you’re better than the last one. I assume you can at least read and write?” he continued. _

_Brienne clenched her teeth and turned around before going into her office. “Yes. It’s Brienne. You would know that if you could read. Now, if you’ll leave me alone… I’m sure you have work to do. I know I do.”_

_Jaime disappeared back into his office, where she didn’t hear a peep from him for the rest of the day… probably because she had closed her door, to avoid needless conversation. Monday turned into Tuesday, which turned into Wednesday, and since Jaime was on trial with Cat all of those days, she didn’t see him again. Brienne was left alone in the office, trying to get a handle on her new job, which was hard enough to do without the snide remarks of her new colleague._

_Brienne busted her ass each day, coming in before 8 and staying till 9 or 10 each night. She delved into all of the files Cat assigned to her. Cat had warned her that the files handled by the previous associates and office staff were not in the best condition, which was putting it lightly. Essentially, everyone who quit should’ve been fired. It was Brienne’s task to fix their mess._

_Wednesday turned into Thursday. Instead of pulling another 12+-hour day, Brienne left at 6. She had a standing weekly dinner date with Sansa and a few other friends that she was loath to miss just because of work. She returned to work bright and early Friday morning, rejuvenated from her “short” day the day before. At lunch, Cat, whose trial ended that morning, took all of the files Brienne had completed and said she’d get back to her after reviewing them. Jaime was back in the office, too, but, thankfully, he was silent. So silent that Brienne forgot he was there. After returning from the kitchen at 7:30 that evening with a full bottle of water, she left her door open._

_“Tarth.” _

_Brienne jumped. She’d thought she was alone in the office. Cat had left before 5 and had told her to leave, but Brienne wanted to stay late again to finish more work. She looked up from her desk to find Jaime standing in her doorway. _

_“You’re still here,” he continued._

_Brienne looked around sarcastically. “Yes, it appears so.” _

_“You have nothing better to do with your Friday night?” he asked with a smug grin._

_“It looks like I’m not the only one…” she replied, letting the retort hang in the air over them._

_Jaime visibly deflated at the comment. “No,” he sighed. “And it’s been a busy week. I wanted to get through these files.” He gestured back to his office, where presumably a stack of files sat on his desk. Not that Brienne actually knew what he did aside from make snide remarks to her._

_Jaime looked back at Brienne. “Look,” he sighed, “I was not on my best behavior on Monday, when we met. I shouldn’t have implied that you’d be as bad as the rest of them. We’ve had some pretty bad luck recently with office staff and I was afraid that Cat had done another one of her ‘pity hires’ – a local woman who needed a job, but who had no experience – rather than hire someone competent.” He scoffed at the thought of those employees. “I think ‘competent’ is your middle name. I couldn’t have been more wrong about you. These files that you gave Cat,” again, he gestured to his office, where Brienne now assumed her files sat on his desk, “they’re perfect. And I know how bad they were. I told Cat it was on her to find someone who could handle the mess because I was spending twice as long fixing it as it would’ve taken for me to do the work myself. On top of my own files. I couldn’t do it anymore.”_

_Brienne just sat there. Was this as close to an apology as he could bring himself to give?_

_“Look,” Jaime started again, when Brienne said nothing. “I’m sorry. I know there’s no excuse, but it’s been a shit show here, we were on trial, and I’m tired. I’m also a bit of an ass, more than I’d like to admit. And more than I’m aware, as my brother frequently tells me. Truly, I’m sorry.”_

_He walked over to her desk and stuck out his hand. _

_“Let’s try again. Welcome, Brienne. It’s nice to have you. I’m Jaime Lannister.”_

_He smiled a devilishly flirty smile, which caused Brienne to drop her gaze. She hoped she wasn’t blushing furiously, as she was prone to do. She stood up and reached out her hand, finally meeting his gaze again._

_“I… understand. All is forgiven.”_

_“Honestly, Brienne, these files… I don’t know how you got through as many as you did, and so perfectly.” He looked at his watch. “Have you worked this late every night this week?”_

_Brienne gulped. She hadn’t even told Cat the hours she had been putting in. She wanted to make a good first impression and was committed to doing the work put in front of her, no questions asked, but she knew Cat didn’t intend for her to live at the firm every waking moment of her day._

_Still hesitating, she averted her gaze and replied, “Mostly.”_

_Jaime knew a lie when he saw one. He also knew evasion when he saw it. He wasn’t a lawyer for nothing. He also knew how much time it would’ve taken him to fix those files._

_“Mostly? I doubt it. Seriously, what time do you leave every day? Why are you still here so late on a Friday? You really have nothing better to do?”_

_There he was again, judging her._

_“I have plenty of better things to do than be criticized by you for doing my job,” she replied. “My pajamas, a glass of wine, and a good book sounds much nicer right now than spending time with you.”_

_It sounded harsh to her ears, but Brienne had had enough of this. Another insult after he apologized. Working here was going to try her patience. Maybe she shouldn’t have taken the job. Clearly this is what Sansa had meant. She sat down and turned to the file in front of her._

_“Brienne, no.”_

_He didn’t take the hint. He still stood there, in front of her desk._

_“I don’t know how I manage to keep offending you. I’m sorry. I just… how late will you be here?”_

_Brienne sighed, attempting to continue with the file. “As long as it takes. The longer you talk, the longer I’m here.” She didn’t even look up. She should’ve known Sansa was right; Jaime was awful. _

_“Stay. Thirty minutes. Don’t leave until I come back,” he pleaded. “Please?”_

_She looked up at him at the please. He looked desperate. _

_“I’ll be back in thirty minutes or less. I promise.”_

_Brienne sighed and caved. “Fine.” She took a large sip from her water bottle and almost slammed it down on the desk. “My book, wine, and pajamas will wait a little longer. Thirty minutes, no more.”_

_Brienne had intended to stay at least another few hours, but she wasn’t going to tell that to Jaime. No, she at least had to pretend that she wanted to leave._

_“Good.” With that, Jaime turned on his heel and almost ran away. “I’ll be back!” he shouted, just as Brienne heard the front door open._

_Brienne sighed and rubbed her forehead. This man was going to give her headache. _

_Twenty-eight minutes later, Brienne heard the buzzer indicating that someone came in the front door. She sighed and rubbed at the tension headache that was starting to make itself known. It was after 8, she hadn’t eaten since lunch, and now Jaime was back to bother her._

_“Brienne!” he shouted from the kitchen. “Come here!”_

_“Oh Gods,” Brienne muttered. She pushed herself away from her desk and stood up, stretching her back and her arms before wandering down the hallway to where she heard the sound of dishes clattering. The sight inside caused her jaw to drop. “Are we having a pizza party?”_

_Jaime looked up from the counter, where he had been stacking pieces of pizza onto two plates. His look went from eager to disappointed as he stared at her. _

_“Pizza. It’s Friday. It’s late. I thought you’d be hungry?”_

_She just continued to stare at him._

_“And wine. I got you wine. I didn’t know if you preferred red or white, so I got both. I really don’t think wine goes with pizza, so I also got beer for myself. Well, for you, too, if you prefer that.”_

_Brienne looked at the rest of the counter as Jaime said this and saw two bottles of wine and a six-pack of beer._

_“Why?” she asked him, in disbelief._

_“Because you said you wanted wine and a good book and pajamas. But you’re here instead. So I brought you wine. And food, because… well, because I’m hungry. So you must be, too. And I thought it would show you I’m sorry for being an ass and that I’m not actually an ass. Or at least, that I don’t intend to be one.”_

_The sad, pleading look in Jaime’s eyes was enough to make Brienne almost believe him. “Thanks, I think.” She really didn’t want to have a contentious relationship with her colleague, so while this wasn’t ideal, at least it was something. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I could’ve eaten when I got home.”_

_“Presumably. But you weren’t going home any time soon, and neither was I. So here,” he said, practically shoving a plate of pizza at her, “have dinner.” He turned to the counter where the drinks were. “What would you like?”_

_“Umm. You’re right about the wine with pizza. I’ll have a beer, please.”_

_Jaime popped the cap off a beer, turned around, and handed it back to Brienne._

_“Thanks.” _

_“Anytime,” he replied, with the same flirty smile that he had given her a half hour earlier._

_Brienne glanced down, trying to compose herself. She should be irritated with him, or at least skeptical of his behavior, not falling for his looks and a few flirty smiles. _

_“I, umm, I should go back to my desk. I need to finish a few things.” She turned around and walked out of the kitchen without another glance at him._

_A few minutes later, Brienne heard Jaime walk into his office and sit down. He didn’t say another word until she got up to leave, two hours later._

_“Finally leaving?” he called out._

_She closed and locked her office door and went over to lean on Jaime’s door. She was tired. “Yeah.” She ran her hand through her hair. “I made enough of a dent in this that I think I can even manage to avoid working this weekend.” She tried to smile at that thought but was too exhausted._

_“Good!” Jaime pushed himself back from his desk and hopped up. How he had that much energy was beyond Brienne. “Let’s go then.”_

_Brienne stepped back from his door as he turned off his light and shut and locked the door. On their way out, Jaime stopped in the kitchen and grabbed the two wine bottles. “Don’t forget these,” he said, smiling shyly this time. “They’re Dornish. My favorite. I hope you like them.”_

_Brienne looked at the bottles for the first time as he handed them to her. These easily cost 100 dragons each. “No,” she said, trying to push the bottles back into Jaime’s still-outstretched arms. “I can’t.”_

_Jaime refused to take the wine from her. “No, they’re yours. You wanted wine, so I got you wine. As a gift. And you’re too honorable to return a gift, aren’t you?” Once again, he looked smug, with a hint of laughter in his eyes._

_Brienne sighed. This man was exasperating. _

_When Brienne returned to work Monday morning, Jaime was already in his office, door closed, a look of intense concentration on his face as he looked through a stack of about ten files. All of the files that she had to revise were gone from her desk and in their place was a coffee from the new café, Hot Pie’s, and a note. _

_“I took your files. You did too much last week; I can handle the rest. Hope you enjoyed the wine. Here’s a coffee to make your Monday more bearable.”_

_Brienne smiled to herself. When Jaime emerged from his office later in the day, she thanked him for the coffee, convinced him to split the workload of the messed-up files with her, and learned his favorite caffeinated beverage. The next morning, she went to Hot Pie’s for the first time in her life and got drinks for the both of them. _

_It continued like this for weeks, as they fell into a pattern of buying coffee for the other. Then, after another particularly grueling week, with several late nights put in already, they went together to Hot Pie’s for a mid-morning coffee break. That’s when the 9:45 coffee run started. _

_Neither closed their office door again, unless it was absolutely necessary to meet with a client or take a phone call. They learned each other’s habits and could read each other’s moods, but they rarely discussed their personal lives. Not that either one appeared to have much of a personal life. Jaime started sticking around whenever he realized that Brienne was going to work late. They took turns ordering takeout on those late nights, until one Thursday…_

_“Shit.” Brienne swore as she jumped up from her desk._

_Jaime stuck his head in her doorway in an instant. “What’s wrong?”_

_“I’m late.”_

_“You? Late? That’s not possible.”_

_“It’s Thursday. I forgot it was Thursday. I was supposed to be at dinner twenty minutes ago.” Brienne shoved her laptop and phone into her briefcase. “And my car’s in the shop. The bus... Shit. I didn’t even have time to look up the bus schedule.” She threw on her suit jacket and took another look around her desk, assessing whether there was anything else she needed to bring home. As she practically ran out of her office, Jaime grabbed her arm._

_“Look, I’ll drive you. Where are you going?” She shrugged him off as he shut his office door and followed her out, practically jogging to keep up with her. “Seriously, I’ll drive.”_

_“You don’t have to. It’s that new Dornish place. Sansa picked it. Crap, I need to tell her I’m only leaving now.”_

_Brienne stopped so quickly on the sidewalk to pull out her phone again that Jaime almost ran into her._

_“Sansa? Cat’s daughter?”_

_“Yeah, a group of us do dinner every Thursday.”_

_Jaime burst out laughing. “Really? That’s why you never work late on a Thursday? I assumed you had a hot date.”_

_Brienne rolled her eyes at him. “Me, a hot date?” She looked back down at her phone and quickly texted Sansa. If she wasn’t in such a rush, she’d be insulted. “Look, I have to go. I’m already late.”_

_“No, I’m taking you.” Jaime pulled on her arm and she sighed again, reluctantly following him to the car park. He got her to the restaurant in just under fifteen minutes, pulling up right outside the entrance. “My lady, we have arrived.”_

_Brienne reached to open the car door when she heard him say that and turned back to him. “My lady? What is this? The middle ages?”_

_“Yes, and I’m your knight in shining armor.” That smug grin, which Brienne now knew was classic Jaime Lannister, was back on his face. “I got you here in record time, didn’t I?”_

_Brienne scoffed. “I don’t need a knight. But… thank you, for driving me.” She turned to open the door again, then stopped herself and looked back at Jaime. “There’s a parking lot in the back. I don’t need to get out here. I’ll wait for you. Unless you have something else to do tonight? You’re free to join us.”_

_Jaime was speechless. Absolutely speechless. Wonderful, beautiful, perfect silence in the car._

_“Come on. Drive around back.” Brienne nudged his arm and grinned. “Unless you’re afraid of hanging out with a bunch of single women?”_

_That drew Jaime out of his reverie. “Single women? Plural? I only want one.” The intensity of his stare into her eyes caused Brienne to feel something she’d never felt before and she immediately looked away. _

_Jaime put the car back into gear and headed around back to park. When they got inside, he held the door for her, and even pulled out her chair when she went to sit down. He was an immediate hit with Brienne’s friends, even with Sansa, who had slowly been learning from Brienne that Jaime wasn’t as bad as she first thought. _

_As everyone chatted over the menu, Jaime grabbed Brienne’s hand and exclaimed, “Look, Brienne! It’s that wine I got you. Which one did you prefer? We’ll get a bottle.”_

_The table fell silent. There were only two bottles available on the entire menu, both priced at over 100 dragons, and neither was available by the glass. Brienne kept her head down, refusing to look up from the menu._

_“What wine?” Margaery questioned. Brienne had no idea that two words could be said so slowly and could be laced with such meaning._

_Brienne wished she could sink into her chair, but Jaime was clueless to her reaction to his question. He was sandwiched between her and Margaery, with Sansa and Arya on the other side of the table. _

_“These,” he eagerly pointed to Margaery’s menu. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Margaery’s reaction. Margaery came from generations of money, but even she looked shocked. So did Sansa, across the table, who was only slightly less well-to-do than Margaery. They weren’t used to other people having such taste. “They’re my favorite Dornish wines. It’s so nice to know that somewhere local serves them now. They’re almost impossible to find, so I get a shipment every quarter. I just got a shipment in the week that Brienne started working at the firm.” Why wouldn’t he shut up? “She’d worked so much that first week, and I’d been an ass. It was a Friday, it was late, and she said that all she wanted was a bottle of wine, a good book, and her pajamas.” He laughed and gave the entire table a knowing look. “But instead, she was working.” Everyone nodded, knowing that Brienne would always put work first. “I ordered a pizza, grabbed some beer, and picked these two bottles from my car. Luckily they were still in there.” He turned to Brienne, who was still pretending she could disappear. “Brienne? Which one did you prefer? Brienne?”_

_“Umm,” she gulped. “I, umm, I haven’t exactly tried them yet.” _

_“Brie!!!” Margaery and Sansa practically screamed at her. _

_“How could you?” asked Margaery, at the same time as Sansa asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?” and looked between Brienne and Jaime._

_Jaime just looked at her, a combination of shock and disappointment in his eyes._

_Brienne gulped again. “I, umm,” for a lawyer, she really wasn’t good with her words tonight, “I thought I’d save them for a special occasion?”_

_“Really, Brie, you could’ve invited us over! My grandmother has been telling me to try these for years!” Margaery was jealous. _

_“Brie?” Sansa asked slowly, when she hadn’t responded._

_Jaime fidget in his seat, now aware that he had started something, but not quite sure what it was. “Look, why don’t we just get both bottles and try them now?”_

_“No!” Brienne shouted, silencing them once again. She was so loud that other tables of patrons turned to look. She quieted down. “I mean no. We’ll just… You can all come over on Saturday and share the bottles Jaime already got me.” This was so embarrassing. Why did this man have to give her such expensive wine and cause a fuss with her friends?_

_Jaime frowned and touched her shoulder. “Brienne? I mean, Brie? You prefer Brie?” He looked upset. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ll call you Brie.” Brienne shrugged, as if to say it didn’t matter. “I’m sorry, if you…”_

_Sansa cut him off, her gaze flickering between Brienne and Jaime. “I think I’d like to try the wine tonight. My treat. What do you think, Marge? Arya? Let Brienne enjoy her bottles when she wants to. We never really celebrated Brienne’s new job and it’s been almost three months, so I think we can treat ourselves. Especially now that Brienne’s new friend is here.” The emphasis was on “friend,” at which point Sansa sent a conspiratorial glance at Margaery, who then stole a furtive look between Brienne and Jaime and nodded. Neither Brienne or Jaime noticed; Brienne was too busy still hoping that her friends could stop making such a big deal of what Jaime did and Jaime was too concerned with why Brienne was upset. _

_Margaery and Sansa agreed on the bottle of Dornish red; Arya couldn’t care less between reds and whites, as long as she could drink it. When it was served, they all agreed it was delicious and the tension slowly disappeared. Sansa made a point of inviting Jaime to join them again the following Thursday, with another glance at Margaery. Jaime agreed to come and insisted that he drive Brienne home, even after Sansa said she lived closer to Brienne and didn’t mind. Brienne stayed silent. The friends watched as Jaime opened Brienne’s car door to let her inside._

_They rode in silence._

_“We’re here,” Jaime said, startling Brienne out of her reverie. Brienne felt awkward again._

_“Thanks for the ride. I hope my friends weren’t too much for you.”_

_“They weren’t.” Jaime hesitated. “I don’t really have very many friends up here. It was nice to be around people who care about each other.” _

_What an odd statement to make._

_“I’ll pick you up in the morning, so you don’t have to take the bus?”_

_“Umm, sure. Thanks.” Brienne grabbed her briefcase from the back and opened her door. “Goodnight.”_

_Once inside her apartment, Brienne couldn’t quite figure out what she was thinking. Texts from Sansa while she got ready for bed didn’t help._

_Sansa (10:15 p.m.): Why didn’t you tell me?_

_Brienne (10:17 p.m.): Seriously? It was just wine._

_Sansa (10:17 p.m.): No, not the wine._

_Brienne (10:17 p.m.): … then what?_

_Sansa (10:18 p.m.): *eye rolling emoji*_

_Sansa (10:19 p.m.): About Jaime._

_Brienne (10:22 p.m.): You know about Jaime. You’re the one who told ME about Jaime._

_Sansa (10:22 p.m.): No way. That’s not what I meant._

_Brienne (10:25 p.m.): ???_

_Sansa (10:25 p.m.): That he LIKES you!!!_

_Sansa (10:25 p.m.): When were going to tell me that the two of you are a thing?!_

_Sansa (10:26 p.m.): My mom won’t care. Really, I swear. She loves both of you. Until tonight, I couldn’t figure out why she cared for Jaime, but honestly, Brie, she’d be happy._

_Sansa (10:30 p.m.): Brie???_

_Sansa (10:35 p.m.): Are you there?_

_Sansa (10:43 p.m.): Brie?_

_Brienne (10:45 p.m.): He doesn’t LIKE me like me. We work together, that’s it._

_Sansa (10:45 p.m.): *facepalm emoji*_

_Sansa (10:46 p.m.): Brieeeeee…_

_Brienne (10:51 p.m.): No, Sansa. You know it’s not like that. Stop. _

_Brienne (10:52 p.m.): G’night._

_Jaime picked her up at her apartment the next morning and Brienne desperately tried to avoid thinking about what Sansa had said. By the end of the day, she’d forgotten it almost completely, until he casually, gracefully, leaned against her door. _

_“What time do you want to leave? I’m not making you take the bus on a Friday night.” Brienne looked at the work piled on her desk and sighed. “It’ll wait till Monday, you know,” he gently told her. “You’ll get used to it. Having an ever-growing, never-ending pile of work. Don’t kill yourself over it.”_

_Brienne sighed. “I know.” She paused and looked up at him. “What are you doing tonight?”_

_“Nothing. Working. Talking to my brother. Maybe watching a movie.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, still looking like a golden god leaning against her office door. “You?”_

_“Nothing.” She dropped her gaze. “I don’t feel like working late again.”_

_“Slacker. You’re the gold standard for professionalism and productivity. How dare you think of leaving early?”_

_Brienne rolled her eyes and stood up. “Some idiot bought me two expensive bottles of Dornish wine, which I would truly enjoy drinking.” She grabbed her briefcase, after putting her laptop and several files into it. “Want to join me?” Gods, where did that come from? Brienne brushed past Jaime on her way out the door. He just stood there. “Come on. Or else I’m taking the bus and you don’t get wine.”_

_Jaime locked up and followed her. They left together and went to his car._

_“What happened last night? With the wine? Something was wrong, but I don’t know what.”_

_Brienne sighed and slid into the passenger seat. She waited for Jaime to back the car out of the spot and start driving before she answered._

_“I’m not used to people going out of their way to make me feel special. If it was just a regular 10 dragon bottle of wine, that would’ve been enough. But,” she paused, “you took the wine from your own collection. Wine you can’t even buy here. Wine that costs a fortune. Two bottles at that. And told all my friends.”_

_“You felt special?” Seriously, that’s what he took from that entire statement? “That’s what I wanted. Because I’d been an ass. You deserved the wine. Your work that week, and the last three months, has been phenomenal. You’re thorough, hardworking, intelligent, patient, good with clients. I’ve never enjoyed working with someone the way I enjoy working with you. I’ve never had a coffee buddy. And I don’t have a lot of friends. It was nice… to make someone feel special. To know I could be a good friend. And to share it with her friends.”_

_In her own way, Brienne understood. She didn’t think someone who was as outgoing and talkative and attractive as Jaime would have a hard time making friends, but she knew the feeling. Being alone was sad, whereas connecting with someone on that level was special. _

_“Thank you, Jaime. I get it. I did feel special.” This was awkward. Time to change topics. “What would you like for dinner?”_

_That evening was the first of many Friday nights that Brienne and Jaime shared together outside of the office. After a particularly odd case they worked on involving the antiquated liquor laws of Winterfell, wherein tavern employees were called “wenches,” Jaime started calling Brienne “Wench,” much to her dismay. They continued to go on their mid-morning coffee break together. Jaime came regularly to Brienne’s Thursday night dinners, and even brought his brother, Tyrion, when he was in town. When Jaime mentioned that he was excited for the first fencing club to open in Winterfell because he’d fenced in high school and college, Brienne shared his excitement… and promptly beat him in their first match. When Brienne decided to run the Winterfell marathon the following year, Jaime signed up and trained with her, matching her stride the entire marathon… until she pulled ahead and beat him by 23 seconds; he spent the next two weeks telling her that he was dying because he ran too much and she pushed him too hard. They started going to the same gym at the same time after that. _

_Sansa continued to occasionally text Brienne to say that she thought Jaime was in love with her. Brienne forced herself to ignore these texts, but she couldn’t quite understand why being with Jaime was different – and better – than being with anyone else, or why, when curled up on her couch or his with a bottle of wine, complaining to each other about their disastrous dating records or horrible recent dates, they seemed more content and more comfortable with each other than with anyone else._

_Brienne simply accepted it and hoped it would never change. She should’ve known better. Good things always change._

_One Friday, six months ago, Jaime received an emergency call. As he dashed out the door, he shouted to her that he’d have to cancel dinner, and likely wouldn’t be at the gym all weekend. She texted him a few times, to make sure that he was okay, but his only reply was that he had to fly to King’s Landing for a family emergency. He was silent the rest of the weekend. Since that first Friday at her place almost three years ago, he had never gone more than a few hours without texting her. _

_On Monday, Jaime was in the office like normal, but had dark shadows under his eyes. He didn’t want to go out for coffee, so Brienne went to Hot Pie’s alone and brought him back his favorite drink. He gave her a sad smile. He worked late Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Even though Brienne didn’t need to, she stayed late, too. She offered to get whatever he wanted for takeout, but Jaime, the man of many opinions, had no preference. On Thursday night, at their regular friend dinner, Jaime broke the news to everyone._

_“Jaime, you look like shit,” Arya bluntly told him. Sansa shushed her. “What, he does!” she replied back to her older sister. “You do. What’s wrong?” she asked._

_Brienne heard Jaime sigh next to her and thought he visibly shuddered. She’d tried to get him to talk all week, but each time she even hinted at asking what was wrong, he’d reply, “Not now, Wench.” She tried to make him laugh, sending him annoyingly stupid gifs and memes at all hours of the day, but that hadn’t done any good either. She looked at him now. He was sad, lifeless. This wasn’t Jaime. He looked like he was about to cry. She took his hand under the table and brought it to rest on her knee. She squeezed it reassuringly, even though she was terrified of what was happening._

_“It’s my sister.”_

_Jaime had alluded to his sister, Cersei, a few times in the last few years, but they weren’t close. She’d been borderline abusive to him and Tyrion, and after his mother’s death, his father always took Cersei’s side. _

_“Her husband was,” Jaime took a breath, “found dead. Last Friday. Under suspicious circumstances. My father… my brother…” He looked as though he was about to cry. The group had grown and all of them – Margaery, Sansa, Arya, Gilly, Missandei, Dany, Ygritte – were silent. “Cersei, and their oldest son, Joffrey, were arrested for murder. My father thinks they’ve been framed. My brother and I, given our history, disagree with him. Obviously, her in-laws – they never liked her – think it’s legit. The two younger kids, Tommen and Myrcella, need someone to care for them.”_

_Jaime took a deep breath, gathering his courage. Brienne squeezed his hand again. Sansa looked at her with concern in her eyes._

_“I have to go to King’s Landing. Indefinitely.”_

_Brienne gasped and all eyes turned to her, including Jaime’s._

_“I know, Wench. I don’t want to, but Cersei and Robert appointed me guardian of the kids, should anything ever happen. I can’t back out now. They need me. Cat already agreed to give me a leave of absence. I’m sorry.” It was as if Jaime was talking only to Brienne, staring deeply into her sapphire eyes. “I don’t want to leave you.” One hand was still wrapped in Brienne’s, on her knee; he lifted the other to the said of her face and stroked her cheek. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” He blushed, realizing what he’d said. “You,” he looked around the table, “I mean all of you, this job, my life here. I didn’t think it would ever happen. I didn’t think I could ever be happy. She’d always said I didn’t deserve it.”_

_No one said anything._

_“Who said you didn’t deserve it?” prodded Gilly, gently._

_Jaime looked down. “Cersei. I came here to get away from her. But now I have to go back. I leave tomorrow night.” _

_The rest of that dinner was the saddest the group had ever shared. Brienne brought Jaime one last coffee at Hot Pie’s on Friday morning. She took him to the airport Friday night and gave him a giant hug. For as comfortable as they were with each other, this was their first hug. And apparently their last. _

_“I’m worried about you,” Brienne confessed._

_“I’ll call you when I land. And I’ll text you. I promise.” _

_Those were Jaime’s last words to her. He did call when he landed, but just to tell her that he was fine. They texted a few times a day that weekend, but their texting dropped off when Brienne returned to work that week. Alone. Shouldering two attorneys’ jobs. Cat assured her that she didn’t have to carry Jaime’s caseload alone, but that was just how Brienne was and she knew Cat wouldn’t hire someone when Jaime intended to return. Eventually. _

_Part of Brienne was bitter about the extra work – how could Jaime be so selfish to leave – but she knew he wasn’t really being selfish. Part of Brienne was glad that the extra work took up so much time. It took the place of the hours she’d spent sharing her life with Jaime – watching knight movies, quizzing each other on medieval history, fencing, running, lifting, drinking wine, going to vineyards, ordering takeout, crashing on the sofa with each other, sharing everything. Everything except this. Except now. Sansa was wrong. Jaime liked her, but not like that. Brienne wasn’t even sure if she LIKED him liked him; she was content to just be friends with the annoying asshole who worked in the office next to hers._

_One week turned into two. Two weeks turned into a month. Their texts; her calls went unanswered. One month turned into three and Jaime told Brienne to take his quarterly shipment of his favorite Dornish wine because he didn’t know when he’d be back. She thanked him, asked how he was and how the kids were, but he was silent. Three months turned into four, which turned into five. She tried texting or calling at least once a week, but he barely replied. At the five-month mark, she told him that Cat ordered her to take a vacation. She offered to come to King’s Landing if he wanted her – scratch that, if he needed her. He told her not to bother. Good, she replied, she didn’t intend to take a vacation anyway. It was a lie. She needed a vacation; she was working twelve to fifteen hours a day (including weekends) and barely working out anymore because she was doing his job. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. He should know. If he cared, he should ask._

_A week ago, Brienne received Jaime’s next quarterly shipment of Dornish wine. Jaime hadn’t said a word to her since the discussion about visiting; he simply changed the delivery address on the wine. She didn’t even thank him._

_A day ago, Brienne was on the verge of a breakdown. She asked Cat if she could take two weeks off, starting Friday. Cat nodded in understanding and agreed, telling her she deserved it, but Brienne doubted that Cat fully understood how much she needed it. Yes, Brienne was basically working twice as much to cover for Jaime, but she was also mourning the loss of her best friend. Because that’s what Jaime had become. Not just co-workers. Coffee buddies, fencing partners, running mates. Friends. Best friends. And it was like he fell off the face of the earth when he left for King’s Landing. Brienne put on a good face, but couldn’t shake how alone she felt without him. _

_Ten hours ago, when Brienne got home shortly before midnight, she opened a bottle of Jaime’s precious Dornish red, drank the entire thing on an empty stomach because no decent takeout was open on a Wednesday at almost midnight, found the winery website and decided to book a flight to Dorne. Where she would spend two weeks. Alone. Drinking wine that Jaime Lannister loved. Alone. On her birthday. Alone._

And that’s what brought Brienne to stare at the rain from the wonderful dryness of her car outside of Hot Pie’s at 9:45. Reminiscing. She wanted one more 9:45 coffee break before going away, alone, attempting to come to terms with the absence of Jaime Lannister from her life.

Brienne sighed and bit back tears. She refused to cry. 

Deciding it was now or never, Brienne jumped from her car and ran into Hot Pie’s. Once inside, she shook the excess water off herself and out of eyes. The line was about ten people deep, so she just stood there a moment, trying to get warm. When she moved up to join the queue, she caught animated snippets of the conversation between the barista and the man who was ordering; they were discussing Hot Pie’s October specials. Something about it made Brienne laugh. It was something Jaime would do – quiz the barista for five minutes about the merits of each new special, oblivious to whether anyone else was waiting. Then, he would inevitably make the barista choose which one he would prefer, and which one Brienne would prefer. Shockingly, given the regularity with which they frequented Hot Pie’s and the lengthy conversations Jaime had with the baristas, the baristas were usually right. Oh, how Brienne longed for that to happen again.

“But do you _know_ for_ sure_ that she prefers that one?” The man at the front of the line was asking. Brienne laughed again. Just like Jaime. 

Brienne tried to ignore the rest of the conversation while she skimmed an email on her phone. She heard snippets only: “wrong coffee,” “first day back,” “make her happy.” Then she heard her name.

“Brienne!” shouted the barista. Brienne looked up. The barista had turned back to the man in line, saying, “Why don’t you just ask her. She’s right there.”

Brienne looked at the man. Tall. About her height. Blonde, but slightly greying hair. Well built. The voice had sounded familiar... The conversation about the coffee… Brienne’s heart caught in her throat and she forgot to breathe. The man turned and searched the line of customers behind him. He found what he was looking for when he saw her. Their eyes met. Sapphire blue to emerald green. The smile that broke out over his face surely mirrored the one on her own.

With only three long strides, he was at her side. His hands gripped her waist and pulled her close so that he could kiss her cheek. Before releasing her, he lifted her in the air and spun her around in circle. Thank the gods there was no one next to her at this point. “I told you I’m strong enough!” he whispered as he set her back down and kissed her cheek again. Finally letting go of her waist, he grinned and said, “Did you miss me, _Wench_?”


	2. The Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should've said this at the beginning of chapter 1, but I forgot. Jaime and Cersei have a bad relationship, but not an incestuous one. Cersei was abusive to both him and Tyrion, but not sexually.
> 
> This chapter was odd to write. Brienne is not in a good place right now - she's overworked, missing her best friend, and very alone. Her birthday is in less than a week and her birthday has always been hard for her, because when she is feeling insecure, it reminds her of when she had no friends and was made fun of all the time. She wants to feel strong, so when confronted with Jaime at the coffee shop... which should be a good thing... she gets defensive instead. I hope you're okay with that and don't see it as too out of character for her.
> 
> The next chapter will be Jaime's POV on everything that is happening. I hope not to take too long to get it written.
> 
> Finally, I wish I could write text messages in actual text message format, but when I'm sitting at a computer, I just find it hard not to use full words most of the time and actual punctuation. I also imagine Brienne probably doesn't abbreviate much in her text messages either, so bare with me :)
> 
> Comments and kudos will be much appreciated! I hope you enjoy it!

“Did you miss me, _Wench?_”

Brienne was torn between the obvious response (_of course_), the sarcastic response (_never_), and the partial truth (_only when you weren’t here to get my coffee_). Her silence was answer enough. 

“I knew you’d miss me!”

Brienne lost track of how long she stared into Jaime’s eyes, her mind running the gamut of emotions. Part of her was thrilled to see him, to be around him again, but the other part didn’t want to easily forgive him for forgetting her the past six months. She had just practically cried in the car over him; how could she melt in his arms five minutes later? And it truly felt like she was melting when he touched her. _Gods, I spend too much time listening to Sansa and watching her rom coms._

A firm hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. “Are you hearing a word I’m saying, Wench? I asked you which October special you prefer?” Brienne let him drag her to the front of the line, full of people who were none too pleased to see the little reunion keep them from their morning coffee. “I got the Headless Horseman for myself.”

“I’ll have the same,” Brienne said to the barista. “That’ll be fine.” 

It was only then, when she tried to reach for her wallet, that Brienne realized that Jaime hadn’t let go of her hand from dragging her to the front of the line. The feel of him, being this close to him, the sound of his voice, the scent of his cologne… everything was doing things to her that she couldn’t explain. She wanted to cry again, or scream, but mostly, she wanted answers. She abruptly pulled away from him.

Looking through her wallet instead of at him, she demanded, “Why are you here?” She wasn’t sure if it sounded harsher than she wanted it to, but when she looked back up, she saw shock and hurt in Jaime’s eyes. 

“No, I got this,” he started, pushing away her hand that held her credit card. “I’m here to get you coffee.” 

Brienne scowled and reluctantly put her card away. “No, why are you _here_? Back in Winterfell. I thought we’d lost you back to King’s Landing.”

The barista held out two Headless Horseman lattes. Before Jaime could take both, Brienne grabbed hers and started walking back towards the door rather than to the tables on the side of the café.

“Wench?” Jaime called after her.

Brienne spun on her heel and faced him. “What? Why are you here?”

Jaime shook his head in confusion. “Because I live here? Because I work here?”

“Really?” Brienne moved aside to let a customer walk past her to the door. “Because nothing you’ve done in the last six months suggests that. In fact, I don’t even know what you’ve done in the last six months since you’ve barely talked to me. You think you can fix that with a cup of coffee?” Brienne was fuming. Her anger was the only thing stopping her from crying.

Jaime stepped in closer to her as more customers passed. He dropped his voice. People were starting to stare. “Are you for real, Brienne? You know why I left. You knew I’d be back. My life is here now. You think I _wanted_ to be in King’s Landing? You think it was _easy_, trying to figure out what to do with two kids whose mother and brother have been arrested for murdering their father? Are you seriously judging me for helping them? What is wrong with you? Where is the Brienne Tarth I used to know and love? What have you done to my wench?”

Brienne stepped away and finally got to the door. She pushed it open, rushing out into the rain. Jaime followed.

“She’s _tired_, Jaime. Don’t accuse me of judging the good you did. You know I cared about you, and about the kids, and about everything that was happening. I tried to text you, to call you. But I heard shit from you!” Now that she was outside, she raised her voice. “Not only did I have no idea how you were doing, not _once_ did you ask about me. About what it was like working fifteen hours a day to cover your ass without ever knowing if you’d be back. To have lost my partner, my… friend…” 

Brienne couldn’t hold back any longer. It wasn’t just rain streaming down her face; the tears she had desperately tried not to cry for months were mixed in as well.

“Please, Wench, don’t cry. We need to talk. I’m back, I promise. I’ll be in the office tomorrow. You don’t have to do my share of the work anymore.”

Brienne laughed. “No, but you’ll have to do mine! I’m leaving!”

Jaime backed away as though he had been hit. His face fell. “What? You can’t leave.”

“Too bad. It’s already planned. Two weeks’ vacation, finally.”

“You’re going away? With who?” Jaime looked like he was going to be physically ill.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” And with that, Brienne turned on her heel and stormed off to her car, rain and tears ruining what little makeup she wore. She tore out of the parking lot faster than was probably advisable in the rain, passing Jaime, who stood frozen to the spot where she left him by the door to Hot Pie’s. She was pleased to see his gorgeous locks dragged down in the rain, and his clothes drenched.

Five minutes later, Brienne was in the office bathroom, hastily attempting to make herself look presentable again. She had been tempted to sit in the car and continue crying, but she had work to do. She had also been tempted to dump the coffee Jaime had bought her, but didn’t want to sacrifice caffeine just to get back at Jaime.

Thirty minutes later, in the middle of drafting an email, Brienne saw her phone light up. Notifications continued to flood in for the ensuing hour, finally distracting her enough that unlocked her phone to view the texts and missed calls. Five missed calls from Jaime, eight missed calls from Sansa. Twenty-three unread texts from Jaime, which she promptly deleted. She opted to read the texts from Sansa.

Sansa (10:43 a.m.): Call me. I need to talk to you.

Sansa (11:02 a.m.): Brie, why aren’t you answering?

Sansa (11:03 a.m.): Don’t make me get my mother to find you.

Sansa (11:10 a.m.): I know you saw Jaime. He called me.

Sansa (11:10 a.m.): What happened? He’s a wreck.

Sansa (11:11 a.m.): Based on what he says, you treated him like shit.

Sansa (11:12 a.m.): That’s not like you.

Sansa (11:18 a.m.): Brie, what’s gotten into you? Why aren’t you replying? I’m worried.

Sansa (11:18 a.m.): So is Jaime.

Sansa (11:21 a.m.): He says you’re leaving.

Sansa (11:22 a.m.): What is he talking about?

Sansa (11:23 a.m.): Where are you going?

Sansa (11:28 a.m.): Brie.

Sansa (11:36 a.m.): For the love of the seven, Brie, text me or call me or I’m seriously going to ask my mother to find you.

Sansa (11:40 a.m.): He didn’t mean to hurt you. You know that.

Brienne sighed.

Brienne (11:45 a.m.): I’m sorry, Sansa, I’m busy. Some of us have jobs to do.

Sansa (11:46 a.m.): WTF Brienne. What is that supposed to mean?

Sansa (11:47 a.m.): What has gotten into you?

Brienne (12:01 p.m.): I’m sorry.

Brienne (12:02 p.m.): I’m overworked, I’m overtired, I’m a bit tense.

Sansa (12:03 p.m.): *sad face emoji*

Sansa (12:03 p.m.): A bit tense sounds like an understatement.

Sansa (12:04 p.m.): Jaime says you were so mad, people were staring.

Brienne (12:08 p.m.): He’s right.

Sansa (12:09 p.m.): Why were you mad?

Brienne (12:21 p.m.): Idk Sansa. I just… seeing him…he was there and I…

Sansa (12:22 p.m.): *sad face emoji with tears*

Sansa (12:22 p.m.): Just because you missed him didn’t mean you should verbally castrate him.

Brienne (12:23 p.m.): I know. I’m sorry. 

Brienne (12:24 p.m.): I just really need a break, away from everyone, to figure out… things.

Sansa (12:25 p.m.): What do you mean, a break?

Sansa (12:26 p.m.): Jaime said you’re leaving?

Brienne (12:31 p.m.): Your mom is giving me two weeks off. 

Sansa (12:32 p.m.): No kidding. You’re entitled to your vacation time. Are you actually using it?

Brienne (12:35 p.m.): Yup.

Sansa (12:36 p.m.): When? How? Where?

Brienne (12:49 p.m.): My flight’s tomorrow.

Sansa (12:50 p.m.): No. No no no no no. 

Sansa (12:51 p.m.): You can’t go tomorrow.

Brienne (12:57 p.m.): Why not?

Sansa (12:58 p.m.): It’s too short notice.

Brienne (1:00 p.m.): Why does it matter? It’s not like there’s anything going on the next two weeks.

_Not like my birthday. Which apparently everyone forgot about. Everyone else gets birthdays planned weeks in advance, but not me. _

Brienne (1:01 p.m.): I need some me time.

_Especially when everyone has forgotten my birthday. Especially after the six months I’ve had._

Sansa (1:01 p.m.): No, it’s a bad time to travel.

Sansa (1:02 p.m.): You can’t.

Brienne (1:04 p.m.): What are you talking about?

Sansa (1:05 p.m.): We might get an early winter. Snow. It could ruin your time off.

Brienne (1:08 p.m.): I’m going.

Sansa (1:09 p.m.): Where?

Brienne (1:10 p.m.): Away.

Sansa (1:11 p.m.): *facepalm emoji*

Sansa (1:12 p.m.): WHERE?

Brienne (1:18 p.m.): Dorne. 

Sansa (1:19 p.m.): Where in Dorne?

Brienne (1:23 p.m.): Idk. I’ll get a hotel when I get there. I only got the flight last night.

Brienne (1:24 p.m.): Look, I need to get away. And I have to finish this work before I can go.

Brienne (1:25 p.m.): I’ll see you and the gang tonight.

Sansa (1:32 p.m.): I’m bringing Jaime tonight.

Sansa (1:33 p.m.): And you’re going to apologize to him for being an ass.

Sansa (1:34 p.m.): You’re not going away until you do.

Brienne sighed and flipped her phone over. It wouldn’t do to have more distractions. She had work she needed to get done. And any more talk of Jaime would surely distract her.


	3. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime seeks advice from Sansa after Brienne leaves him standing in the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this, everyone! I had the entire chapter done except for the last line and a few read-throughs, which I was saving for the following day, but my work deadlines got completely rearranged that day and I had to scramble to get several things done. Which meant absolutely no free time for writing. Anyway, I'm hoping to get chapter 4 mostly done tonight as well - I wanted this to be a fall story and the fact that it's December and we had the first snowfall today is making that seem unrealistic now!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented before. I love hearing from you!

Jaime stood outside of Hot Pie’s in the rain for at least five minutes after Brienne drove off. More than one customer gave him an odd look and tried to hold the door for him to come back inside, but he refused each time. Finally, sopping wet and looking much worse for wear (which he hadn’t thought possible after six months of hell in King’s Landing), he went to his own car and proceeded to drive home, rain water dripping all over his nice leather seats.

This morning couldn’t have been more of a disaster. He’d looked forward to seeing Brienne, surprising Brienne, every day – no, every hour – no, every minute – since he booked his return flight to Winterfell. He’d imagined a variety of possible reactions on her part, all of which involved some sort of physical contact, but none of which included her storming off and leaving him behind in the rain.

_Seven hells, where did I go wrong?_

Even Sansa hadn’t expected this. Sansa… she would know what to do.

Jaime immediately called Sansa, hoping she could hear him over the sound of the rain on the car as he drove.

“Jaime!” Sansa answered, bright and eager, as always. “Today’s the big day, right? I only have a few minutes until class starts, so talk fast! Did you see her yet?”

Jaime gulped. This conversation was going to be harder than he thought.

“Jaime? Can you hear me?” There were noises in the background – doors slamming, people talking – but she came through loud and clear.

“I’m here. Yes, I mean. Yes, I can hear you.”

“Well? Baelish’s class starts in all of about three minutes and you know him, he won’t let any student in past starting time. What happened? When do you see Brie?”

Silence again.

“Jaime?” Sansa’s voice was no longer as sing-song and confident this time. There was a hint of worry in it. “Is something wrong? Where are you? Where’s Brie?”

Jaime sighed. “I’m almost home. Brienne’s probably at the office. For now. But she’s leaving.”

“Jaime, I have class. What are you talking about? Is something wrong?”

“Everything. Everything’s wrong.”

“Hold on.” Jaime heard a muffled Sansa have a conversation with a muffled male voice near her and then she was back. He could hear her heels clicking on the floor as she walked somewhere. “When will you be home? I just told Baelish there’s an emergency and I won’t be in class. This better be worth it, Jaime. It’s halfway through the fall semester of my last year in law school. I shouldn’t be skipping criminal procedure just to talk to you.”

Jaime heard a door open and the sound of rain and more clicking as Sansa walked outside while he finished his drive home. 

“Give me a second while I get to my car.”

Jaime heard more rain and more footsteps, then the sound of a door opening and closing and the sound of an engine starting.

“Okay, Jaime, spill it. What happened?”

It was as if the ice wall melted and all of the horrors in Jaime’s mind spilled forth. Once he started talking, he couldn’t stop. He also couldn’t hold back the tears he never thought he’d cry. He didn’t know what got into him.

“Brienne ran into me as I was getting coffee. She seemed happy, but then she fell apart. I’ve never seen her angrier in her life. And you know her, she gets angry with me whenever I do something stupid, but this was different, Sansa. This was like she _meant _it. She kept going on and on about what I was doing here, why I hadn’t talked to her. Why I hadn’t talked to her? She’s my best friend, for fuck’s sake. Does she think I didn’t want to talk to her?” Jaime could feel hysteria start to take over. Thankfully he had just pulled into his driveway. “My sister and my nephew are in jail for _murder_, Sansa. I uprooted my life to watch my other nephew and niece go through six months of therapy to barely begin to understand why their father was murdered and their mother’s in jail. I had to hire a lawyer for the sister who abused Tyrion and made my life a nightmare and the nephew who killed a kitten with his bare hands under the age of ten. And she wants to know why I didn’t talk to her?” He couldn’t hold back the sobs anymore. “Sansa, what was I supposed to say to her? Talk about the weather? The only way I got through each day was trying to avoid thinking about everything that was happening. And knowing she was untainted by it. She’s everything to me, Sansa. You know it. You’ve known it for years. I couldn’t let it consume her the way it was consuming me.”

He paused to catch his breath. Before he could continue, Sansa said, “Jaime, I’m coming over. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Thank you. I… thank you.”

“Go inside. I’ll let you know when I’m there.”

Jaime reluctantly went inside and changed out of his wet clothes. Sansa arrived shortly after 11 and immediately took charge. She could be quite intimidating when she tried to be.

“I tried calling Brie, but she didn’t answer. I texted her, too. Sit down and tell me what happened, exactly. I could barely understand you in the car.”

Jaime took a deep breath and told the story from the beginning. He concluded with Brienne’s statement about going away… and not revealing the identity of her travel companion.

“Who’s she going with? Where’s she going? Is she…” Jaime gulped. He ran his hand through his hair and felt his heart fall through to his knees. _Gods, no._ He couldn’t even bring himself to look Sansa in the eye as asked his question. “Is she _seeing_ someone?”

Sansa stood up and started pacing. “Going away? Seeing someone? She hasn’t said anything. I would’ve told you! You seriously think I would’ve let you go through all this trouble to surprise her just to have her be with someone else?” Sansa frowned. “I didn’t even know she was going away. I swear! Your surprise for her birthday – I wouldn’t have let you plan it if I’d known she had other plans!”

Jaime wanted to laugh, but the sound that burst from his chest sounded like that of a strangled, dying, pigeon. “My surprise? Gods, even if she wasn’t going away, I doubt she’d agree to a long weekend away with me for her birthday. I’m pretty sure she never wants to see me again.”

All Jaime could think of was the tears running down Brienne’s face while standing in the rain outside of Hot Pie’s. 

  
“I’ve never seen her so sad,” Jaime continued, as he hunched his shoulders and curled into himself in the corner of the couch. He felt sick. “Did I do that to her? Did I really cause this? I thought I was protecting her from the craziness that was my family.”

Sansa gave him a motherly look that he knew she got from Cat; Cat often gave the same look to their young clients who made stupid mistakes.

“She has been _very_ busy. Mom told her not to do all of your work, but you know Brie. That’s not her way. She’s worked so much that she’s stopped working out. She almost started missing our Thursday dinners, but Arya goes to the office every Thursday at 5:30 to drag her there regardless. She isn’t sleeping well.”

Sansa started pacing again.

“You certainly didn’t help, I suppose. I mean, we all know you were going through a nightmare of a time, but Brie is… well, Brie. She cares with every fiber of her being. And I don’t know how much she’s said to you, but she’s been hurt. A lot. And don’t you _dare_ make me regret telling you this, or Arya will make sure you’re sorrier than you are now.”

Jaime flinched and nodded. He knew what Arya could do and didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

“She doesn’t have old friends from university or earlier because they all made fun of her. Mocked her for how she looked. From what she’s told me, it was _bad_, Jaime. The guys, the girls, everyone. And then, after a few years of finally feeling good about herself, her friend… her _best _friend, Jaime… left her, for a very good reason, but stopped talking to her. She didn’t talk about it much – she was too busy working – but if your name came up, you could tell something was wrong. It sounds like she thinks she became nothing again. That your friendship was all a sham.”

Jaime was appalled. Jaime knew men had been judgmental of Brienne in the past, but didn’t realize she had no female friends from earlier either. He was also appalled at the idea that his friendship with Brienne was a sham. She was truly his best friend, the best thing that happened to him. And he wanted to use this weekend to hopefully make it so much more.

“What do I do, Sansa?”

Sansa sat down with a sigh. “Well, I guess it’s time to make a plan b.”


	4. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brienne cries, a lot, and gets ready to leave for Dorne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters is one day is unlikely to be a regular occurrence, but take advantage of it while it's here! Thoughts, comments and kudos are appreciated. Thank you all for reading!

As much as Brienne tried to resist looking at her phone the rest of the day, she was continually drawn to it like a moth to a flame. She would never admit it, but she secretly hoped that Jaime would text her or call her to resolve the whole situation, but all she received were texts from Sansa asking for more information about her trip and then random texts from Margaery asking to be reminded what size clothes she wore.

As the end of the day neared, Brienne wondered if she could manage to escape dinner with her friends that evening. She didn’t feel like being social and couldn’t bare the thought of seeing Jaime again, especially in a setting where everyone else would be happy to see him. She would have to get out of the office before 5:30, when Arya would inevitably drop by to make sure she went to dinner. She looked at her watch. 5:12. Taking a final glance at the stack of work on her desk, she concluded that all of it could wait until she returned from vacation, closed her laptop and put it into her briefcase, and gathered the rest of her things. Quickly wrapping her coat around her, she shut off her light and fled. As she locked the office door behind her, she started to breath a sigh of relief.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Brienne jumped. She spun around to see Arya barely a foot away. Brienne swore the hallway had been empty. It was as though Arya had dropped down from the ceiling. “Dammit, Arya. What are you doing here?”

“Waiting. Watching.” Arya raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Making sure someone comes to dinner.”

As Brienne started to walk away from the office, Arya followed, close on her heel.

“It’s early for dinner.”

“I know. But we thought you might try to run. And it looks like we were right.”

Brienne stopped abruptly and spun to face Arya.

“He won’t be there, if that’s what you’re worried about. None of the guys will be. Just us.”

Brienne gulped.

“Come on, it looks like you need a stiff drink.”

Brienne sighed and let Arya drag her to dinner.

It was only a small group that evening. _It figures. The dinner before my birthday and no one shows up._ Brienne was on the edge of seat, half expecting Jaime to waltz in any second, despite what Arya had said. Conversation was strained as everyone danced around the subject that Brienne wanted to discuss the least. Not able to take it any longer, Brienne pushed herself away from the table and threw down some money. Dinner hadn’t even been served.

“I don’t need change. I need to pack. See you all in two weeks.” Without waiting to hear anyone reply, Brienne practically ran from the restaurant. She controlled herself for her entire drive home, but once she got into her apartment and slammed the door, she could feel control slipping away. She leaned her forehead up against the door to try to catch her breath, but she failed. The tears started to fall and she slid down the door to her knees, burying her head in her hands. Large wracking sobs tore through her body.

*****

Brienne awoke to knocking on her apartment door. 

“Brie! Open up, you’re going to be late!”

Brienne stretched and rubbed her groggy eyes. 

“Brie! We’re coming in!” 

Brienne heard the sound of her front door open and close before realization dawned on her. She’d overslept. 

_Shit shit shit._

After crying on the floor for gods knew how long when she got home, she had climbed into bed with her clothes still on and cried herself to sleep. She hadn’t set her alarm, or packed for her trip. She hadn’t been worried because her flight wasn’t until 1:30 and she hadn’t slept past 6:30 in six months, but if Sansa was already here to drive her to the airport, that must mean…

“Brie! Brie? Where are you? Are you okay?”

Brienne rolled over and saw the clock on her nightstand read 10:30. She buried her head in her pillow in panic just as the door to her room swung open.

“Brie!” 

Before she could sit up, Sansa and Margaery were by her side, gently shaking her. “Brie? Are you okay? We need to leave soon.”

Brienne rolled over and heard their simultaneous intake of breath. 

“Seven hells, Brie, what happened?” Margaery exclaimed.

“I’m an idiot, Marge. I overslept. Let me shower and throw a few things in a suitcase and I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”

“No, Brie. Your eyes,” said Sansa, who hadn’t budged since coming over to the side of the bed. “You look…like you cried.” Sansa’s voice dropped to a whisper. “A lot.”

Brienne felt a blush rush over her skin. She couldn’t face either one of them anymore. “Well, maybe I did.” She pushed herself out of bed and stormed off to the bathroom to shower. When she looked in the mirror, she saw that they were right to ask her what happened. Her eyes were swollen and puffy. She looked a thousand times worse than normal, which she never thought was possible. Especially since her eyes were her best feature. The thought of starting her vacation looking so hideous made her want to cry again, but she pulled herself together and started the shower. A few minutes later, she heard a knock on the bathroom door as it creaked open slightly.

“Brie? Take your time. Marge will pack for you and I’m running to get you some extra makeup for your eyes. As long as we’re out of here by noon, you’ll be fine.”

Brienne mumbled in agreement. If that meant she could stand under the near scalding hot water for another few minutes, she’d take it. Maybe she could burn away all the feelings she had.

When Brienne finished her shower, Margaery told her sit down and started doing her hair. When Sansa got back from grabbing extra eye product, they worked on her makeup. The fact that Brienne didn’t even resist concerned her friends – they expected a fight if they tried to doll her up just to get on a plane – because it showed just how upset she truly was. 

“There,” Margaery said. “Turn around and look.”

“This makeup did wonders to your eyes, Brie. I’m going to go throw it in your bag,” said Sansa, as she hurried from the room.

Brienne turned around and stared in the mirror. How could that be her? In so little time, her friends had transformed her from the saddest girl in all the land to someone who looked almost beautiful. Her short hair was curled to frame her face, her eyes barely looked swollen.

Sansa returned to the room with Brienne’s phone, wallet, and jacket. “Time to go! If we leave now, you can even get lunch before your flight; we’re thirty minutes ahead of schedule.”

“But, my things… I need to pack.”

“No, dear, we took care of it,” Margaery assured her. “You have everything you need in that suitcase.” She pointed to a suitcase by the door.

“That’s not my suitcase.”

“No, it’s mine,” said Sansa. “I brought it. I know you usually only use carry-ons, but you need more space for a two-week trip.”

“My books, my laptop? What about a swimsuit?” Brienne started mentally going through everything she needed.

“You don’t need a laptop in Dorne, Brie. I will make sure that my mother doesn’t need you to lift a finger to do any work at all on your vacation. And your books are in there. The ones from your nightstand. Well, three are in there and one is in your purse for the flight. Not that you’ll need them.” Sansa winked at Margaery. _How odd._

“And don’t worry,” Margaery jumped in, with a sly look in her eye, “your swimsuit is there, too.”

Brienne had four books on her nightstand that she had intended to read in her nonexistent free time. She also would like to swim daily on vacation if she was somewhere near a beach. The fact that her friends knew her so well brought a smile to her face, even if they were acting strange about it.

“Thank you,” she said, choking back a tear. “It means a lot to me that you know me this well.”

*****

A short while later, Brienne checked her suitcase, went through security, and wandered through Winterfell Airport in hopes of finding a bite to eat before her flight. She settled herself into a corner table in a restaurant, ordered a sandwich and a glass of wine, pulled out her book and started to read. She felt herself start to relax.

“Is this seat taken?”

Brienne nearly knocked over her wine. She had been so engrossed in her book that she hadn’t realized someone had approached her. She was confused why anyone would want to sit with her when the restaurant was practically empty. Knowing her flight would leave soon, and not wanting to deal with anyone’s company, she closed her book and moved to stand, about to give the table to the intrusive individual. 

“You don’t have to leave.” It wasn’t until the voice spoke to her again that Brienne realized it sounded familiar. _No._ She forced herself to look up to the man at the side of her table. Sapphire met emerald as they made eye contact.

“I _do_, actually. I believe I told you yesterday that I was leaving,” she said, as she shoved her book into her purse and signed the receipt for her lunch. “And you…_you_… said you’d be sticking around. But you’re in an airport twenty-four hours later.” She picked up her purse and stood up. “You _lied_. You’re not _back_. You’re _leaving_.” She took a step away from the table. “_Again_.”

“No, Wench.” Jaime grabbed her arm and lowered his voice. “Sit. Please. We have fifteen minutes before we need to board.”

Brienne stared at Jaime’s hand on her arm, unwilling to do anything to end the contact even though she thought that made her weak.

“We need to talk, Wench. Please?”

Brienne looked up at Jaime’s and saw pleading, desperation, and pain. 

“Okay.” She gave in. “But my flight is…” _What had he said?_ _Fifteen minutes to board. That’s right. Till we board. We?_ “How do you know when my flight is? And where are you going?”

“That’s why we need to talk,” he started. 

Brienne raised an eyebrow. _This isn’t happening._

“I’m going to Dorne. With you.”


	5. Alone or Not Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you are all safe and healthy during this pandemic. For those of you who started my story months ago, I'm so sorry for the delay. Work spun out of control and I never felt I had the right amount of time to put in the work on this that I wanted. Thank you for your patience and for coming back. For those who are new to the story, thanks for checking it out!
> 
> This is just a short chapter to get me back into the groove. I look forward to seeing your reactions and feeding you more again soon!
> 
> Take care :)

“I’m going to Dorne. With you.”

Jaime’s words repeated themselves over and over in Brienne’s head. Her jaw dropped. In shock, she sat back down at the table. 

“What? What are you talking about?” she asked. 

Jaime pulled out the other chair at the table and sat. 

“We need to talk.”

Brienne simply nodded.

“I dreamed of you.”

Brienne looked at him quizzically. 

“The entire time I was away. Thinking of you, of my life here, was all that kept me going. I should’ve called, I should’ve texted. I know. I’m an ass. But it was hell, trying to help two kids whose father was murdered and whose mother and brother were in jail for murder. I didn’t want to ruin you with it. You were… the only thing in my life untouched by this tragedy. I didn’t want to spoil that by overwhelming you with it.”

“Jaime, I would’ve…” Brienne interrupted.

“I know. I was wrong. I wanted to handle it my own way and made it worse. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Jaime shook his head at the waitress who came over to inquire as to whether they needed more food. He took a glance at his watch.

“We only have a few minutes. We need more time to talk than this, but you have a vacation to get to. If you tell me not to get on the plane, I won’t get on. But I came back for your birthday. If all else failed, I told myself I’d be back for that.” He looked down at his hands, as though shy and embarrassed. “I wanted to take you away. For your birthday, and to thank you for handling all my work while I was gone. To make it up for you, somehow. This,” he waved his hands and looked back up at Brienne’s face, “trip to Dorne, isn’t exactly what I planned, but I’ll make it work. Whatever you want, whatever you need. My treat.”

Brienne sighed and tried to look anywhere other than Jaime’s face. She tried to focus on how hurt she felt that Jaime hadn’t confided in her, talked to her, and inquired about her over the last six months rather than the shame that started creeping in while Jaime was talking – shame that she was too self-centered to remember how difficult those six months had been for Jaime. She sighed again and stood up. “Let’s go. We don’t want to miss our flight.”


End file.
